Garments for Dialysis Patients

ABSTRACT

Upper and lower garments (shirts and pants) having recloseable openings located apart from any structural seam in the garment provide improved comfort and privacy for dialysis patients receiving treatment. These garments may help reduce treatment cost and/or cross-contamination risk compared to the use of blankets or similar items.

CONTINUITY AND CLAIM OF PRIORITY

This is an original U.S. patent application.

FIELD

This application relates to garments and other devices to be worn bymankind to adorn, cover or protect the body or person. Morespecifically, this application relates to garments having reversibleclosures located in one or more particular positions to facilitate thesafe, sanitary and comfortable delivery of medical care.

BACKGROUND

Millions of individuals suffer from medical conditions that can bemanaged with regular dialysis treatment. In dialysis, the patient'sblood flow is redirected temporarily through a machine which performsthe cleaning and fluid-balancing functions that the patient's own organs(chiefly liver and kidneys) can no longer manage on their own. Patientsmust receive such treatments regularly (perhaps a few times a week), andso are often fitted with “ports” that ease the difficulty and traumaassociated with connection to the dialysis machines. These ports may belocated on the patient's arms, legs, chest and/or abdomen, as determinedby their doctor and depending on the patient's physiology and needs.

In general, a patient's ports are not all accessible through openings inclothing or by simply moving a garment out of the way; often, it isnecessary to partially or completely remove a garment to receivetreatment. Furthermore, the environmental conditions (especiallytemperature) that are suitable for operation of a dialysis machine maybe uncomfortable for an unclothed patient. Thus, patients often requireblankets or similar items for comfort during their regular,time-consuming treatments.

Unfortunately, blankets shared among patients often become vectors forcarrying infectious diseases between the patients (who are oftensomewhat immunocompromised in any event). Thus, some dialysis centersincur (and pass on to patients) the additional expense of providingsingle-use blankets or of sterilizing the blankets between uses, whileother centers prohibit the use of blankets altogether (resulting inreduced patient comfort).

New articles of manufacture that improve patient comfort while reducingor eliminating the risk of cross-contamination may be of significantvalue in this field.

SUMMARY

Embodiments of the invention are loose-fitting, comfortable and warmgarments (both shirts and pants) that are provided with at least onecloseable opening located away from (or across) a structural seam of thegarment. The at least one closeable opening is positioned to affordaccess to a dialysis port of the wearer without displacing or removingthe garment.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS

FIG. 1A shows an upper garment according to an embodiment of theinvention.

FIG. 1B shows a lower garment according to an embodiment of theinvention.

FIG. 2A shows a prior-art upper garment with front structural seamsindicated.

FIG. 2B shows a prior-art upper garment with side and rear structuralseams indicated.

FIG. 3 shows a pattern piece for a front portion of an upper garmentaccording to an embodiment of the invention.

FIG. 4 shows a pattern piece for a front portion of an upper garmenthaving an alternate sleeve style.

FIG. 5 shows a pattern piece for a front portion of a lower garmentaccording to an embodiment of the invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

Embodiments of the invention provide recloseable openings in garments(both upper-body garments—shirts; and lower-body garments—pants) thatare sized and positioned to allow easy access to dialysis portsinstalled on the wearer's arms, chest, abdomen or legs. Dialysis portpositions are usually not aligned with a seam or other significantstructural feature of a standard garment, so it is not possible tosimply insert a zipper into such a seam, or to comfortably pull back asleeve or pant leg far enough to expose the port. Instead, embodimentscomprise additional garment openings placed incompatibly with standardseams. In this disclosure, “incompatible” placing is specificallydefined to mean “placement of an opening that is not aligned with afabric-joining (structural') seam.” Openings according to an embodimentmay be placed away from any seam, in the middle of an expanse of fabric;across a seam (not along it); or touching a seam, but directed into bulkarea of the fabric that is joined at the seam.

FIG. 1A shows a front view of an upper garment according to anembodiment of the invention. The garment may be made of a soft naturalor synthetic material such as cotton jersey, wool, or polyester fleece.Any of woven, non-woven, or knitted fabrics may be used. Threerecloseable openings are shown in this Figure: one on the upper rightchest (110), one on the abdomen (120), and one on the left forearm(130). The positioning of these openings is discussed further below.

FIG. 1B shows a front view of a lower garment according to an embodimentof the invention. This garment may be made of the same material as theupper garment, or of a heavier, sturdier material. The embodiment shownin this Figure has a single recloseable opening according to theinvention: a zipper 140 situated on the front of the left leg, runningfrom about mid-thigh to mid-shin. This Figure illustrates that,according to a preferred embodiment, zipper 140 is provided with two (2)sliders. These may be positioned so that opening 150 extends over lessthan the full length of the zipper, and so that the precise location ofthe opening along the zipper may be adjusted.

FIGS. 2A and 2B show a prior-art upper garment not provided withopenings according to an embodiment. These Figures show importantdetails of such garments, namely, that they are constructed of severalpieces of fabric that are joined at appropriate locations by sewn orbonded seams. For example, in FIG. 2A, the seam joining the right sleeveto the body of the garment is at 210, and a seam joining the upper frontshoulder to the upper back shoulder is at 220. Other seams may also bepresent, such as a seam at hem 230. Prior art garments may also beprovided with openings such as the neckline separation 240, whichextends fully to and severs the collar line (see 250). Similar openingsmay be provided at the cuffs as well.

FIG. 2B shows some fabric-joining, structural seams that are visiblefrom the left rear of the garment: the back portion of thesleeve-to-body seam 260 and a side seam 270. Not visible in these views,but present on many prior-art garments, is an underarm seam that joinstwo edges of sleeve fabric into a tube shape.

Embodiments of the invention place recloseable openings at garmentlocations that are not coincident with fabric-joining seams (i.e.,according to the inventor's specific definition, the openings are atlocations incompatible with standard seams). Such placement is importantto the correct function of a garment implementing an embodiment of theinvention, but it increases the cost and complexity of manufacturingcompared to placing zippers at locations where seams must already bemade. It is appreciated that adjusting the shape of garment pieces sothat structural seams do align with dialysis-port locations isinfeasible because the garment is unlikely to fit comfortably—structuralseams (e.g., at shoulders, underarms, crotch and pant-leg sides) arewhere they are as a result of long experience with well-fitting garmentsthat can be constructed with relatively efficient use of fabric.Embodiments of the invention trade increased cost and complexity ofmanufacture for increased functionality.

FIG. 3 shows a sample fabric piece 310 that forms the front of an uppergarment according to an embodiment of the invention. Short dashed lines320 indicate where structural seams will be formed, joining parts of theedges of this piece to back and sleeve pieces (not shown). According toan embodiment, recloseable openings will be placed within the bulkexpanse of fabric, for example at locations 330 (for upper right chest)and 340 (abdomen). These openings do not cross or follow any structuralseam.

FIG. 4 shows an alternate front pattern piece 410 for an upper garmentwith a raglan-style sleeve. In a raglan sleeve, the sleeve fabricextends over the top of the shoulder and all the way to the collar;there is thus a structural seam located from approximately the underarmto the collar near the wearer's clavicle. In such a garment, theupper-right-chest opening of an embodiment 430 may extend to or crossthe structural seam, as shown at 460. This positioning also meets theinventor's definition of “incompatible” location, and is specificallycontemplated as an alternative implementation.

Finally, FIG. 5 shows a front left pattern piece 510 for a lower garmentaccording to an embodiment of the invention. In like manner to theupper-garment pieces discussed above, locations of structural seams areindicated at 520 (fly), 530 (crotch), 540 (inseam), 550 (outer seam) and560 (waistband). According to an embodiment, the leg dialysis portopening at 570 is placed within the bulk expanse of the fabric, locatedincompatibly with any structural seam.

As mentioned previously, in preferred embodiments the recloseableopenings are secured by zippers with at least two sliders, placed sothat the exact size and location of the opening can be adjusted withinthe boundaries set by the full length of the zipper. For example, anupper garment may have a six-inch (15 cm) opening, but only a two-inchportion of the full opening may be needed to access the dialysis port.In a preferred embodiment, then, one zipper slider may be positionedslightly to one side of the port, and the other zipper slider may bepositioned slightly to the other side of the port, leaving a narrowopening to access the port. Since the rest of the opening is closed,less of the patient's skin is exposed and greater comfort and privacyare obtained.

Other methods of closing the inventive openings may be used. Forexample, buttons, snaps or hook-and-loop fabric closures may performacceptably. However, in most cases, considering the inconvenientlocations of some port access openings and some patients' impaireddexterity, zippers are believed to be the most-favored solution.

The principles of the present invention have been described largely byreference to specific examples and in terms of particular embodiments.However, those of skill in the art will recognize that comfortable,hygienic dialysis clothing can also be constructed in other formswithout departing from the principles set forth above. Such variationsand alternate implementations are understood to be captured according tothe following claims.

1. An upper garment for a dialysis patient formed as a long-sleevedshirt of a soft, insulating fabric, characterized in comprising: atleast two recloseable openings located incompatibly with all structuralseams of the upper garment, a first of said two recloseable openingslocated on a right upper front quadrant of the upper garment andoriented vertically, and a second of said two recloseable openingslocated on a vertical centerline of a front of the upper garment andextending down from no higher than a mid-chest position of the verticalcenterline to short of a hem of the upper garment.
 2. (canceled)
 3. Theupper garment of claim 1, wherein each of the at least one tworecloseable openings comprises a zipper.
 4. The upper garment of claim 3wherein each zipper of the at least two recloseable openings comprisestwo zipper sliders oriented so that a position and a length of andopening of the corresponding recloseable opening can be adjusted.
 5. Theupper garment of claim 1, wherein each of the at least one recloseableopenings comprises a plurality of buttons.
 6. The upper garment of claim1, wherein each of the at least one recloseable openings comprises aplurality of snaps.
 7. The upper garment of claim 1, wherein each of theat least one recloseable openings comprises a hook-and-loop fabricclosure.
 8. The upper garment of claim 1 wherein all of the at least tworecloseable openings extend through all fabric layers of the uppergarment so as to allow access from outside the upper garment to asurface of a patient's skin when the patient wears the upper garment. 9.A lower garment for a dialysis patient formed as long-legged pants of asoft, insulating fabric, characterized by comprising: at least onerecloseable opening located incompatibly with all structural seams ofthe lower garment, said at least one recloseable opening closed by azipper with two sliders oriented so that one sub-portion of therecloseable opening may be opened, while a remainder of the recloseableopening is closed, said at least one recloseable opening located along afront of a left leg of the lower garment and extending from no higherthan about a mid-thigh location through to no lower than about amid-shin location. 10-12. (canceled)
 13. The lower garment of claim 9wherein the at least one recloseable opening is exactly one recloseableopening.
 14. The lower garment of claim 9 wherein all of the at leastone recloseable openings extend through all fabric layers of the garmentso as to allow access from outside the garment to a surface of apatient's skin when the patient wears the garment.
 15. A dialysiscostume for a patient, comprising: an upper garment having twofull-length sleeves attached to a torso portion at shoulders thereof,said torso portion having an open lower end and a collared neck openingat an opposite, upper end, said upper garment constructed with at leastone material seam connecting a sleeve to the torso, closing a side ofthe torso, closing a shoulder of the torso, or closing a length of asleeve; and at least a first reversibly-closeable opening through allfabric layers of the upper garment, said at least a firstreversibly-closeable opening located incompatibly with all of the atleast one material seams of the upper garment; and a lower garmenthaving two full-length, separated pant-legs attached to a waistband,said lower garment constructed with at least one material seamconnecting a left side of the garment to a right side of the garment orclosing one of the left pant leg or the right pant leg; and at least asecond reversibly-closeable opening through all fabric layers of thelower garment, said at least a second reversibly-closeable openinglocated incompatibly with all of the at least one material seams of thelower garment, said second reversibly-closeable opening extending fromno higher than about a mid-thigh position of the lower garment to nolower than about a mid-shin position of the lower garment.